


Play the Part

by braindelete



Category: Iron Man (Comic), Marvel 616, The Order (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Gen, henry has performance issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 03:23:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braindelete/pseuds/braindelete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry struggles with performance anxiety as he sees Henry give way to Tony Stark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Play the Part

The reporter, blonde, leggy and wearing very little, stared at him with a seductive scrutiny he'd never experienced. She invited him into her confidence, with a soft smile and teasing hair flip, then nailed him with interrogation and tripped him up with innuendo. He felt himself shift under her gaze, running a hand along the back of his neck. She gave him a smile that almost seemed predatory, the spot light for the camera heating him to the point he was certain he'd started to break a sweat.

"Are you prepared for the over-night stardom?" she asked him.

Henry Hellrung gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged. "Well, I better be. I'm playing Tony Stark."

In college, he'd always told himself he'd never become famous. He'd be happy just to make a living at it. He'd be happy just to be considered a paid actor and you know, if he made Broadway that was the ultimate goal. Maybe a couple small films here and there, a walk on or bit part on TV shows... he'd be set with that life. It was where he knew he'd be comfortable. The lead in a nightly soap about Tony Stark: Billionaire Industrialist with a heart of Iron and his band of Avengers was something he had never expected.

A BFA in acting prepared me for failure. They didn't tell me what to do with success.

"Did you expect to become a big name actor, Henry?" the reporter chirped.

"Well you know... actors... we expect rejection. I was just happy to be allowed to audition for the part. I didn't think I'd get it, not in a million years."

"Is it true Tony Stark chose you personally for the role?"

"Tony's very... hands on in this process. You know. His image is important to him."

 

Henry arrived on the set the first day, whisked away by an assistant of an assistant--only in Hollywood did the assistants have assistants--to a make up trailer. Once inside, he was trust into a chair where a very effeminate man dressed in a lavish leisure suit that should have died with disco. It was lavender colored with a pink shirt underneath. He snapped his fingers at a girl who came over to make some notes as he gestured. Henry hadn't even had a coffee yet.

"Is this his facial hair... is this the best you can do? We said perfectly trimmed." He snapped his fingers again. "Trim this, make it perfect. Cut his hair. Dye it, we need it black as night! Contacts? Are we doing contacts, because his eyes are not blue!"

Henry rubbed his face trying to gather himself. The man kept rattling off change after change while Henry sat in the chair and said good-bye to his looks. It wouldn't be so bad. It was the sacrifice of an actor. Be a chameleon. Be adaptable. Never look like you.

Three house after sitting in the chair, Henry looked like Tony Stark.

 

"CUT!"

The scene stopped and Henry sighed, falling forward and resting his head on the desk. This was the fifth time he'd asked for his line. It was the first day and he was already making a bad impression on the cast, the director... everyone.

"Mr. Hellrung. Are you with us today or would you like a little break? Maybe we made a mistake casting you." the director barked.

"I.." Henry stumbled.

"We're taking five, sir!"

The young red head, gorgeous and freckled, played Tony's assistant whose name he really couldn't remember right now, grabbed him by the hand and whisked him off set. She sat him down in one of the collapsible chairs. She placed her hands on his knees, looking him in the eyes and then grinned.

"Take a breath. Breathe," she coaxed. "Now, what's in your head?"

"I don't even know. I guess... I'm just overwhelmed. I got pulled out of nowhere and thrust into a... make-up trailer and now I look like someone else. And not a dead someone else, a living breathing someone else who... could ruin my life if I fuck this up!" He was rabbiting, waving his hand a little.

Pepper. That was her character's name. Her name, it still escaped him. The Faux Pepper nodded, sitting down next to him and handing over a bottle of water. He cracked it open and drank it down, quickly draining about half of the bottle before pulling it back and gasping for air. She rubbed his back comfortingly.

"How are you so calm?" he choked out.

"I grew up in the business. Child actress. But you'll be fine if you just take a few deep breaths and remember why you got this job."

"Because the rumors are true and Tony Stark likes boys and thinks I'm hot?" Henry gave her a half-hearted smirk.

"Because you're talented, Hellrung."

He gave her a nod and stood up, stretching a bit and rolling his neck. Faux Pepper smiled, watching him prepare before he took her hand and helped her up. He took a deep breath. Henry knew that the peptalk had done a good thing. His confidence was a restored. He lead her back to the set and he returned to his place behind the desk.

Henry noticed a new face behind the camera talking to the director. The face nearly identical to the one he'd seen in the make-up trailer mirror. Tony Stark was on set. The pressure was on. Stark looked over, a smirk growing on his lips. He gave Henry a nod. Henry looked over at his new friend and she smiled giving him a thumbs up.

You're trained for this, Henry. No more performance anxiety. This is your big break.

He pulled his legs up and propped them on the desk, one crossed over the other, folding his arms behind his head. The director glanced over. He looked slightly impressed.


End file.
